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Item Open Access Trinamool, Politics and Poribarton: Comprehending the Ideological Connection(University of North Bengal, 2016) Howladar, SumitThe electoral victory of the Trinamool Congress in the 2011 Assembly election (followed by the 2016 election) in West Bengal defeating the ‘once undefeatable’ Left Front is surely a landmark political development. But in the entire gamete of affairs, one issue which demands serious introspection is the issue of ideology. This paper examines the peculiar silence of ‘ideology’ in Trinamool Congress’ politics and connects it to the idea of ‘Poribarton’. It highlights the features of Trinamool’s ideology and grounds it in the present political scenario of the state to derive a clear picture of the ideological currents currently in vogue.Item Open Access Simultaneous Elections: A Sure Recipe for Democratic Disaster(University of North Bengal, 2017) Howladar, SumitThe journey of India’s democracy has been an exciting and remarkable one. It has traversed several unchartered and difficult paths. Elections have been one of the core components and drivers behind this project of democratic expansion and consolidation. With changing times both the scale and mode of conducting elections have also changed drastically. While in the earlier years simultaneous elections of both the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies took place, in the last fifty years this system became defunct. But recently the present incumbent government has pushed for renewing this system of conducting simultaneous elections. This paper argues that with the changed socio-political scenario revival of this system is not in the best interest of the nation’s democratic fabric. It highlights that the arguments put forward behind the desirability and feasibility of the said proposal largely based on faulty assumptions and lack sound argumentative base. Delving into the various layers of the issue, the paper underlines the core point that though on a technocratic level conducting simultaneous elections might seem highly appealing, but from a perspective of democratic fructification, this system is bound to prove regressive and counter-productive.Item Open Access Simultaneous Elections: A Sure Recipe for Democratic Disaster(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Howladar, SumitThe journey of India’s democracy has been an exciting and remarkable one. It has traversed several unchartered and difficult paths. Elections have been one of the core components and drivers behind this project of democratic expansion and consolidation. With changing times both the scale and mode of conducting elections have also changed drastically. While in the earlier years simultaneous elections of both the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies took place, in the last fifty years this system became defunct. But recently the present incumbent government has pushed for renewing this system of conducting simultaneous elections. This paper argues that with the changed socio-political scenario revival of this system is not in the best interest of the nation’s democratic fabric. It highlights that the arguments put forward behind the desirability and feasibility of the said proposal largely based on faulty assumptions and lack sound argumentative base. Delving into the various layers of the issue, the paper underlines the core point that though on a technocratic level conducting simultaneous elections might seem highly appealing, but from a perspective of democratic fructification, this system is bound to prove regressive and counter-productive. Keywords:Item Open Access Populist Politics and Electoral Democracy: A Study of Mamata Banerjee(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Howladar, SumitOne crucial factor behind Mamata Banerjee’s enormous success in the landmark 2011 assembly election in West Bengal has undoubtedly been her populist style of functioning. In this paper I examine whether her politics can be labelled as a pathological political phenomenon or as an authentic form of political representation. I try and locate the element of ‘the people’ and see how she maintains a fine balance between the heterogeneous interests surrounding it juxtaposed against legitimacy and accountability. Lastly I analyse the possibility of ushering of certain self-imposed qualifications and limitations within the larger ambit of her populist style of functioning.